Three important lessons from LinkedIn’s Executive Playbook…

Simon Gray February 13, 2018

…and what you need to know as part of any successful executive job search strategy.

On this week’s Buy Valium 2Mg group-coaching call I reviewed LinkedIn’s recent publication: 10 STEPS FOR LEADING IN THE DIGITAL AGE, which they also describe as the Executive Playbook.

In recent years LinkedIn has changed the executive job search landscape. In the past employers were reliant on executive job boards or executive search firms to source talent, but now they have the world’s best recruitment database at their fingertips.

This gives employers the opportunity to source potential hires directly, and what’s more, it gives you the opportunity to proactively engage with employers, which puts you ahead of the market and your competition. LinkedIn is one of the keys to the ‘hidden market’ – the place where high-probability executive career opportunities always exist before ever being advertised on executive job boards or presented by search and selection firms.

It’s easy to make mistakes on LinkedIn, but the big mistake is not being active on the platform in the first place. However, fear of putting yourself out there could be a big blocker to leveraging its capability fully.

With this in mind, here are my three key takeaways from the Executive Playbook, which I’ll provide a link to at the end.

[Above image sourced from LinkedIn’s Executive Playbook. A link is provided at the end of this article.]

1. Now’s the time to leverage LinkedIn’s power:

8.2 million c-level executives have LinkedIn profiles.

This was somewhat of a surprise, as with over 500 million users now on the platform this represents only 1.6% of LinkedIn’s digital population.

While this is a small percentage of total users this shouldn’t dissuade you from leveraging LinkedIn’s power. Early adoption is key to success in any industry and getting on board now with LinkedIn to build a profile and use the platform proactively means you won’t need to play catch-up later.

Now owned by Microsoft, expect to see LinkedIn more integrated with other systems and solutions we currently use. There’s no escaping that LinkedIn is here to stay, and having a well-optimised and active profile is no longer an option, it’s an absolute must.

2. Take advantage of all the tools LinkedIn gives you:

LinkedIn provides you with a multitude of options to showcase your skills, abilities and value proposition. I regularly see profiles that are incomplete, but LinkedIn’s advice is very clear: ‘Having a complete profile is important to show you’re an active part of the ecosystem’.

Just like Google, LinkedIn wants to serve up the most relevant profiles to those searching on the platform. Google downgrades poorly optimised or incomplete websites and it’s the same on LinkedIn.

Best advice is that if LinkedIn gives you an option – take it. This means rich-media content, articles you’ve written and regular posting / engagement.

Groups are often misunderstood, but thinking of LinkedIn as one huge ocean and groups as a collection of individual lakes with their own unique characteristics, makes their importance very apparent.

3. Invest time on LinkedIn and once you start, never stop:

LinkedIn is an investment in time. The Executive Playbook makes this clear: ‘Business is about people, but nurturing relationships takes time’. LinkedIn is not about one-to-many business development, instead it requires building and developing one-to-one relationships consistently over time.

LinkedIn activity should never be stop-start, but this is the mistake many people make. In the executive job market everyone knows that they need to raise their LinkedIn game when their active, but once a new position is secured this new level of activity shouldn’t stop.

Maintaining an ongoing presence on the platform, which positions you as a thought leader / industry expert means you’ll never need to go in search of opportunities again, they’ll very likely find you, often when you least expect it.

In summary:

The publication of LinkedIn’s Executive Playbook is an important reminder of why building a profile on the platform and developing an understanding of how to use it proactively are now an absolute must.

Whether you’re in business and in search of new clients, or in the business of taking your executive career to the next level, having an impactful LinkedIn profile is a key ingredient for success.

LinkedIn is ‘the’ database. Used by executive recruitment firms and employers alike, it’s a two-way street that not only gives them access to you; it gives you the opportunity to proactively approach them.

LinkedIn resources:

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